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Why Neknomination is Career Suicide

When it comes to neknomination, it’s no longer the case who can drink the most in your friendship circle; you are competing with the rest of the world and there is always someone who can do better. The trend of neknomination started in Australia and involves people filming themselves downing drinks before setting a challenge for another person to complete and so on. Ultimately, neknominators post their video or videos in social media to go viral and then the battle for fame and likes starts for good.

The 21-year-old teenager, Inky Ralph rode a horse into a Tesco supermarket in the US as part of a Neknomination challenge downing a Pepsi Max (see video). She then nominated a friend of hers and the security guard on duty to perform their own challenge, before leaving the supermarket on horseback.

Speaking to the media, Ralph stated: “It was something nobody else had done. It was just harmless fun. Everybody seems to find it really funny”.

Well, is it really safe to say that this craze sweeping the internet is just harmless fun? Here are my arguments justifying why neknomination can be prove a perfect career disaster for all these daredevils engaging in it…

Reputation is Gone (Perhaps for Good!)

Similar to posting boozy pictures on Facebook, people engaging in Neknominations run an even worst reputation risk when it comes to posting their videos on their social media profiles. Employers may be cautious to avoid their business’ direct involvement in the game, but employees who indulge themselves in the game, may display their business name on their Facebook page or tag names of other colleagues on the video, indirectly involving their business in the action.

Colleagues Might Start Bullying Each Other

In addition to this, the media have recently exposed cases whereby people who failed to complete their neknomination mission experienced verbal and physical abuse and were forced to not abandon their effort. Consequently, bullying and harassment can occur between colleagues, who in turn can see their career prospects and reputation falling apart.

Apart from this, colleagues who put unnecessary pressure on an individual to engage publicly in a practice that they may feel deeply uncomfortable with can see their long-established relationship with other colleagues ruined in no time. So forget about keeping balanced workplace relationships and making the most of networking with colleagues.

Hangovers Will Lead to Absenteeism

Neknominees are at a greater risk in terms of work absenteeism as a result of binge consumption. If an employer suspects an employee is absent from work because of a hangover due to participating in a neknomination, employers may use the footage posted on social media as evidence to investigate whether the employee has been involved in unauthorised absence.

All in all, neknominations is not just about drinking irresponsibly or killing your career ‘softly’, it’s more about the way this drinking craze has fostered a peer drinking pressure on a global level, which in turn erodes how we interact with our colleagues.